Friday, May 30, 2008

My uncle Sonny built this himself.....it is a full sized tepee and 18 feet in diameter ...fully lined so he can even have fires inside......it is beautifully done. He is so creative and artistic and can make everything seem so magical....Now if I can talk him into coming over here and helping me and Noah make one in our backyard!

I woke up this morning to Opie....sitting on my bed looking up at the ceiling at a bug I assumed.......I turned the light on and did not see anything......at first.......then....I got up and saw a dark object on my curtain over my bed.......and saw THIS!!!!!!!

YES........can you imagine seeing this above your bed where you head had been? I knew I did NOT want to kill it.....having attempted that in the past ....NO FREAKIN' way......all those legs and super large body you can feel crunch beneath you feet! SO that meant I had to CATCH the bugger.....and toss him down the toilet or outside.

I went to the kitchen and grabbed a large glass cup........and a piece of paper......and went back to the bedroom where OPIE STOOD GUARD.......poised like a pointer dog......ready to attack. I am so thankful he did not jump at the curtain or the thing would have been long gone. I got the cup and prayed the bug would drop IN the glass and not on the outside and down my hand!!! IT DID go in the cup......and was flying around in there like crazy.......

I took him to the bathroom intending to toss him down the toilet......but then looked at him sitting quietly in the cup like he KNEW I was debating his fate....and I suddenly felt very powerful and realized I was in control of his destiny and I just did not have the heart to toss him down the toilet and flush him......plus........I have done that before with a few bugs and they magically survived the flush only to crawl back OUT of the toilet at inopportune times......and the thought of this critter crawling up my ass did not appeal to me.

SO I instead went to the garage......opened the door and tossed him way out in the grass......not caring if the neighbors so me in my ratty pajamas or not!

HOLY CRAP that gives me the creeps still thinking about it.

meanwhile since work has been slow for me this week I was able to mow and trim and weed and plant almost 100 flowers......I even got a blister on the palm of my hand from digging so many holes....

went to Fulton Farms yesterday and got some yummy fresh strawberries and HUGE tomatoes!

that is kind of dark of the berries.......here is a lighter one

okay......I am still creepin' out from the bug

here are some FACTS on the centipede....that will creep YOU out even more!

The house centipede, when fully grown, is 25–50 mm (one to two inches) (I HAVE SEEN SOME 5-6 INCHES LONG!) long and has an average of 15 pairs of very long, delicate legs and a rigid body, which enables it to run with surprising speed up walls and along ceilings and floors. Its body is yellowish grey and has three dark-colored dorsal stripes running down its length; the legs also have dark stripes. Unlike most other centipedes, house centipedes and their close relatives have well-developed, faceted eyes.

House centipedes feed on spiders, bedbugs, termites, cockroaches, silverfish, ants and other household arthropods. They kill their prey by injecting venom through their fangs.

House centipedes lay their eggs in the spring. In a laboratory experiment of 24 house centipedes, an average of 63 and a maximum of 151 eggs were laid.[1]

Young centipedes have four pairs of legs when they are hatched. They gain a new pair with the first molting, and two pairs with every subsequent molting.[2] They live anywhere from three to seven years, depending on the environment.[citation needed]

Outdoors, house centipedes prefer to live in cool, damp places. Most live outside, primarily under large rocks, piles of wood and especially in compost piles. Within the home, these centipedes are found in almost any part of the house; most commonly, they are encountered in basements, bathrooms and lavatories, where there is a lot more water, but they can also be found in dry places like offices, bedrooms and dining rooms. The greatest likelihood of encountering them is in spring, when they come out because the weather gets warmer, and in fall, when the cooling weather forces them to find shelter in human habitats.

Unlike its shorter-legged but much larger tropical cousins, the house centipede can live its entire life inside a building. Because they eat household pests, house centipedes are considered among the most beneficial creatures that inhabit human dwellings, but because of their alarming appearance, frightening speed, and painful bite, few homeowners are willing to share a home with them.

Most house centipedes are incapable of penetrating human skin with a bite or a sting. Those that can, give an effect no worse than a minor bee sting.[2] The symptoms generally disappear within a few hours. However, the bite can cause health problems for those few who are allergic to the mild venom of its bite, which is similar to that of most normal centipedes. It is possible in some cases that a rash may develop and many minuscule bumps can form, an allergic reaction which might be comparable to a bee sting, in terms of pain, or simply itchy, as with a mosquito bite. The house centipede's venom is too weak to cause any serious harm to larger pets such as cats and dogs.

In the case of an allergic reaction to the centipede's venom, an extremely painful, swollen lump may appear; such a lump may last a long time, even permanently.Pus and bruising around the bite along with the tightening of skin can be expected from an adverse reaction. Techniques for eliminating centipedes from the home include drying up the areas where they thrive, eliminating large indoor insect populations, sealing cracks in the walls, and seeking the assistance of an exterminator.